Major Authority Figures
[[WWE]] In the past, WWE's authority figure was presented by the President, who had booking power and controlled all wrestlers. However, in 1997, the President was replaced by the Commissioner. During the Attitude Era of WWE, not only the Commissioner, but [[Vince McMahon]] had booking power as well through his Chairman position under his evil character "Mr. McMahon". McMahon usually used his power in order to haze his (kayfabe) nemesis, [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]]. When [[Shawn Michaels]] was Commissioner, he was able to overrule McMahon, but he only sporadically exercised his booking power, and was working with an "Iron-Clad" contract where he couldn't be fired. When [[Mick Foley]] acquired the position, he took full reign until he was fired from the position. Upon splitting the WWE into two separate brands in the WWE Brand Extension of 2002, on-screen co-owners [[Vince McMahon]] and [[Ric Flair]] proceeded to draft WWE wrestlers into two separate rosters. Flair took ownership of [[Raw]], while McMahon controlled [[SmackDown]]. After McMahon regained control of the entire company, he removed Flair from control of Raw, relinquished his own position, and appointed separate General Managers to control the different brands. On July 18, 2011, [[Triple H]] came to Raw and told Vince McMahon that the Board of Directors (kayfabe) revoked his "day-to-day operation power" and named him to manage it instead. After that, Triple H became the WWE's Chief Operating Officer (storyline) who had the booking power in WWE on both Raw and SmackDown brands until the Board stripped him of his power, and named [[John Laurinaitis]] the Interim General Manager of Raw. WWE Chairman * [[Vincent James McMahon]] - 1954 – February 21, 1980) * [[Vincent Kennedy McMahon]] - February 21, 1980 – present WWE Chief Executive Officer (CEO) * [[Steve Austin]] - June 7, 1999 – June 27, 1999 (Storyline) * [[Linda McMahon]] - September 2, 1999 – September 16, 2009 * [[Vince McMahon]] - September 16, 2009 – present WWF Presidents * [[Willie Gilzenberg]] - 1963– November 15, 1978 * [[Hisashi Shinma]] - 1978–1984 * [[Jack Tunney]] - September 1984 – July 12, 1995 ** [[Gorilla Monsoon]]: Interim - July 12, 1995 – March 31, 1996 * [[Gorilla Monsoon]] - April 1 1996 August 3, 1997 ** [[Roddy Piper]] – Interim - 1996 (substitution for an injured Gorilla Monsoon) WWE Chief Operating Officer * [[Triple H]] - July 18, 2011 – present ** [[Theodore Long]]: Assistant to the COO - September 5, 2011 – October 10, 2011 WWE Director of Operations * [[Kane]] - November 4, 2013 – April 7, 2014; August 11, 2014 -Present WWF Commissioner * [[Sgt. Slaughter]] (August 4, 1997 – November 23, 1998) * [[Shawn Michaels]] (November 23, 1998 – June 26, 2000) * [[Mick Foley]] (June 26, 2000 – December 18, 2000; October 11, 2001 – November 19, 2001) ** [[Debra]] – Lt. Commissioner – (October 30, 2000 – March 5, 2001) * [[William Regal]] (March 8, 2001 – October 11, 2001) [[WWE Brand Extension]] Authorities During the Brand Extension of [[WWE Raw]], and [[WWE SmackDown]] and later [[WWE ECW]] and [[WWE 205 Live]], the shows were run by "General Managers". A full list of the Brand authorities can be found on the individual pages. The General Managers were often assisted by a variety of other positions including Chief of Staffs and Legal Consultants. [[WWE Saturday Morning Slam]] Authority General Manager (GM) * [[Mick Foley]] (March 16, 2013 – May 11, 2013) [[WWE NXT]] Authority Host * [[Matt Striker]] (February 23, 2010 – June 13, 2012) ** [[Ashley Valence]] – Co-Host (June 22, 2010 – August 31, 2010) ** [[Maryse]] – Co-Host (March 8, 2011 – August 24, 2011) Match coordinator * [[William Regal]] (February 29, 2012 – June 13, 2012) General Manager (GM) * [[Dusty Rhodes]] (June 20, 2012 – September 12, 2013) * [[John Bradshaw Layfield]] (September 12, 2013 – August 28, 2014) * [[William Regal]] (August 28, 2014 - present) [[WWE ECW]] Authorities See also: ECW (WWE) [[TNA]] Director of Authority The Director of Authority operated as the on-screen authority-figure for the company * [[Erik Watts]] (July 23, 2003 – January 28, 2004) * [[Don Callis]] (January 28, 2004 – February 4, 2004) * [[Jeff Jarrett]] (February 11, 2004 – February 18, 2004) * [[Vince Russo]] (February 18, 2004 – November 7, 2004) * [[Dusty Rhodes]] (November 7, 2004 – June 17, 2005) NWA Championship Committee TNA Wrestling also maintained a championship committee – established in 2004 to help the Director of Authority to book matches and to keep contenders in proper order. The Committee members also served as guest judges for [[TNA Impact]]! when broadcast by Fox Sports Net, as all matches had a time limit and if the match went to time, a judge had to make the call as to who had won (somewhat as in boxing). The committee consisted of: * [[Dusty Rhodes]] (founder, original member, November 2004 – June 2005) * [[Harley Race]] (original member, November 2004 – ???) * [[Terry Funk]] (original member, November 2004 – March 2005) Funk never appeared on-screen in TNA * [[Roddy Piper]] (replacement for Funk, March 2005 – ???) * [[Larry Zbyszko]] (original member, November 2004 – 2006) Management Director * [[Jim Cornette]] (July 16, 2006 – May 21, 2009) * [[Matt Morgan]] – Bodyguard/Enforcer (August 9, 2007 – April 10, 2008) President * [[Dixie Carter]] (April 19, 2009 – October 14, 2010), (November 25, 2010 – March 3, 2011), (October 16, 2011 – Present) ** [[Hulk Hogan]] – Managing Partner (January 4, 2010 – October 14, 2010) ** [[Rockstar Spud]] – Chief of Staff (November 22, 2013 – March 9, 2014) * [[Hulk Hogan]] – (October 14, 2010 – November 25, 2010), (March 3, 2011 – October 16, 2011)2 ** [[Mick Foley]] – Network Consultant (May 3, 2011 – June 2, 2011) Executive Shareholder * [[Mick Foley]] (October 23, 2008 – January 4, 2010) General Manager (GM) * [[Sting]] (October 20, 2011 – March 22, 2012) * [[Hulk Hogan]] (March 29, 2012 – October 3, 2013) TNA Investor * [[MVP]] (January 30, 2014 – Present) Director of Wrestling Operations * [[MVP]] (March 9, 2014 – June 26, 2014) 1 * [[Kurt Angle]] (June 26, 2014 – January 7, 2015) Knockouts Division Commissioner * [[Traci Brooks]] (August 28, 2008 – January 2009) * [[Ms. Tessmacher]] (September 20, 2010 – October 14, 2010) * [[Karen Jarrett]] – Executive Vice President (September 1, 2011 – December 15, 2011) * [[Traci Brooks]] – Executive Assistant (September 1, 2011 – December 15, 2011) * [[Brooke Hogan]] – Executive (May 31, 2012 – August 16, 2013) Xplosion Commissioner * [[Desmond Wolfe]] (May 16, 2011 – June 16, 2011) Executive Producer * [[Eric Bischoff]] (January 4, 2010 – October 16, 2011) * [[Ms. Tessmacher]] – Executive Assistant (April 28, 2010 – September 20, 2010) Representative of the TNA Board of Directors * [[Earl Sullivan Armstrong]] – (June 26, 2014) WCW When [[Ted Turner]] purchased [[Jim Crockett Promotions]] and launched [[World Championship Wrestling]] in 1988, the company went through a series of Vice Presidents and bookers, ranging from those with little wrestling experience to those entrenched in the old territorial methods of promotion, until [[Eric Bischoff]] took control in 1994. His tenure saw the creation of [[WCW Nitro]], the start of the Monday Night Wars, and the formation of the [[New World Order]]. Declining ratings saw Bischoff ousted in 1999, and former WWF writer [[Vince Russo]] was hired in an attempt to salvage the company. WCW was purchased by the WWF in March 2001, however the company was featured prominently on WWF television as part of the Invasion storyline for the remainder of the year. Owner * [[Ted Turner]] (October 11, 1988-March 23, 2001) ** [[Harvey Schiller]] – Vice President of Turner Sports * [[Vince McMahon]] (March 23, 2001 – November 18, 2001) ** [[Shane McMahon]] (March 23, 2001 - November 18, 2001) Executive Vice President * [[Jim Herd]] (1989 - 1992) * [[Kip Allen Frey]] (1992) * [[Bill Watts]] (1992 - 1993) * [[Eric Bischoff]] (1994 - 1997) * [[Bill Busch]] (1999 - 2001) President * [[Eric Bischoff]] (1997 - September 1999) * [[Ric Flair]] (December 28, 1998 - July 19, 1999)1 ** [[Charles Robinson]] – Vice President Commissioner * [[Nick Bockwinkel]] (January 27, 1994 - June 18, 1995) * [[J.J. Dillon]] (April 21, 1997 - October 25, 1999) * [[Roddy Piper]] (September 8, 1997 - 2000) * [[Terry Funk]] (January 3, 2000 - January 16, 2000) * [[Kevin Nash]] (January 16, 2000 - April 10, 2000) * [[Jeff Jarrett]] - Acting/Interim Commissioner (January 31, 2000 - February 9, 2000) * [[Ernest Miller]] (May 31, 2000 - October 29, 2000), (January 14, 2001 - February 12, 2001), (February 18, 2001 - February 26, 2001) * [[Mike Sanders]] (October 29, 2000 - January 14, 2001) * [[Lance Storm]] (February 12, 2001 - February 18, 2001) * [[William Regal]] (October 15, 2001 - November 18, 2001) Miscellaneous Figures * [[Vince Russo]] (October 5, 1999 - January 1, 2000), (April 10, 2000 - October 2000) ** [[Ed Ferrara]] * [[Eric Bischoff]] (April 10, 2000 - July 9, 2000) ECW * [[Tod Gordon]] – Owner (1992 – 1996) * [[Paul Heyman]] – Owner (1996 - 2001) ** [[Cyrus]] - Network representative (1999 - 2001) * [[Stephanie McMahon]] – Owner (July 9, 2001 – November 18, 2001) * [[Vince McMahon]] – Owner (April 4, 2001 – present) See Also